I still have yet to find a water container that i like using but i found an interesting paragraph in a book. The book was "A Life Wild and Perilous"
I believe it was written by one of the guys that was featured in The Mountail Men that was on the history channel. Unfortunalely I lent the book to a friend but i remember a part in the book where an old trapper talked about trading a tribe for demijugs to hold water while they crossed a dry part of the region. I did a bit of searching for demijugs and found that usually they are glass, pear shaped containers. Kind of interseting i thought since glass containers are frowned upon for their historical in-accuracies.
As always, comments are welcome.

I have used gourds; carried one for years. They're light, tough and each is different. If you grow your own you can let it grow between a couple of boards to make it grow flat. Glass bottles of the right style are OBVIOUSLY correct, but heavy. Cow horns also make great containers.

backwoodsman did a good artical on groud canteens but they take along time to get . I do use a bottle with a leather case that I made .I do alot of canoe trekking so weight doesn't mander that much .I would like to find a small wood barrel for the canoe .I also have a wooden canteen.

_________________If I don't get some whiskey soon i'm going to die!!!!!

Kind of interseting i thought since glass containers are frowned upon for their historical in-accuracies.

Glass containers of the proper type and design are VERY appropriate. That said, they are heavy and breakable. Gourds, wooden or metal canteens are widely accepted even though canteens were more of a miltary item. But in todays world, a good canteen is essential. I personally carry a leather canteen I made years ago.

PS. The History Channel "Mountain Men" show is chock-full of inaccuracies and I would not take anything they showed as gospel. Makes me mad whenever I see it......

If you spend much time in the woods in this day and time, a canteen is essential. Anything you read about the colonial era, they always had plenty of springs and clear water creeks and rivers to get water from. Sadly, those days are long gone. Thirty years ago I had a place that I hunted that had an artesian spring and would hunt during the morning and make a camp around lunchtime to make coffee and cook up my squirrels. I drank the water straight from the spring with no ill affect.

Where I hunt now, the water has to be boiled thoroughly before it is potable, so I carry a canteen.

In the south, the gourd was used a lot to store and carry water. The Muscogees raised gourds and made all sorts of containers. So I carry a canteen gourd when I go hunting or trekking. If you can find one that is a usable size then make your own canteen. When I was looking to make one all I could find were too small so I ordered one already made up from Crazy Crow. It is sealed with bees wax. But if you get one of these, go ahead and coat the inside again with melted parafin wax before you use it. I used mine the first time the way it came to me. The water looked like pee and had a musty taste. So after that I melted a block of Gulfwax and coated it again and the water looks and tastes much better.

The bottom line is, the gourd canteen weighs almost nothing. So the only weight is the water inside it. A good thing

_________________There ain't nothin' like squirrels and gravy cooked in my Granny's 108 year old cast iron pan. Mmmmmm, love what you eat.

for trekking I also now use a gourd the one I have now only holds 4 cups of water I'm looking for a bigger one but as it be winter and snow onthe ground I can get all the water I what for cooking and the water in my gourd is just to have a drink when thirsty.

_________________If I don't get some whiskey soon i'm going to die!!!!!

If you had a gourd that was supposed to be beeswax lined but the water still tasted and looked bad, it is not the fault of the beeswax. It's the fault of the person that supposedly did the waxing. Either they didnt use enough or they didn't coat it properly, or both. Brewers pitch is also an excellent lining.

_________________Condé
"Sometimes I wonder whether the world is being run by smart people who are putting us on or by imbeciles who really mean it." -- Mark Twain

___

Let me never fall into the vulgar mistake of dreaming that I am persecuted whenever I am contradicted. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Kind of interseting i thought since glass containers are frowned upon for their historical in-accuracies.

Glass containers of the proper type and design are VERY appropriate. That said, they are heavy and breakable. Gourds, wooden or metal canteens are widely accepted even though canteens were more of a miltary item. But in todays world, a good canteen is essential. I personally carry a leather canteen I made years ago.

PS. The History Channel "Mountain Men" show is chock-full of inaccuracies and I would not take anything they showed as gospel. Makes me mad whenever I see it......

Have you been able to find any documentation on leather canteen - I see a leather - canteen or bottle cover in Encyc. of Am Rev page 63 - have you any documentation? Would very much be interested if you do.

I am happy to see this thread as I was just thinking about this problem. I have been looking at several bison purveyors who have bladders for sale. Unfortunately if you put water in them they will go soft and I would bet we moderns would not enjoy the taste. I think they are best for dry goods, but I am left wondering what the Native Americans did to store water, ceramics being pretty impractical even if you could get them.

I am going to make some gourd canteens this month so I will let you know how they turn out. So far that seems like the best approach.

In my stuff I also have a large (5 gal) hammered copper bucket. I thought about using that to store water in camp but it is not tinned. I know that cooking in it would be a very bad idea, but how about storing water for a few days under a wood lid?